How to make the best hot cross buns - In Season

Mar 14, 2024

"Be fearless and use your imagination."

Easter, with its promise of renewal and joy, brings with it one of our most cherished traditions – the hot cross bun. Easter can also bring astonishing levels of stress, spilled flour, baking meltdowns and tough buns.

To avoid a baking disaster, we went straight to the professionals to learn how to make the perfect hot cross bun. Balancing tradition with personal touch, it’s an art that Alejandro Luna, Executive Pastry Chef at the esteemed Sonoma Bakery, has mastered. From the importance of ingredient selection to the nuances of dough preparation, Luna shares his expertise, guiding us on a journey to achieving the best Easter hot cross buns.

How do you make your hot cross buns super fluffy?

“We use a technique called Tangzhong which is a roux or pre-cooked flour/water paste. This is a technique commonly used in soft or Asian style sweet bread which helps in keeping the buns softer for longer by retaining more moisture or allowing more moisture to be absorbed when making the dough. There is also an important step which should never be overlooked which is we bake our buns fresh daily!”

Sonoma Hot Cross Buns

What’s the perfect spice ratio for hot cross buns?

“In our recipe we use 3 to 3.5% from the weight of the flour. In other words, use 3-4 grams of spice for every 100 grams of flour in your recipe. It is also important to push the envelope with spices and not stick to cinnamon only, be adventurous and add in clove, nutmeg, even a little cardamom and you can really elevate the experience.”

What’s the best flour to use for hot cross buns?

“Bread or baker’s flour. A good strong flour with 12-13% protein. They are bread rolls, and you need a good amount of development and strength in the dough to bind the ingredients and give you good height and volume.”

How long do you need to let your hot cross buns prove?

“This is a tricky question as proving the buns will depend on conditions. Proving bread or buns is all about the right combination of temperature and humidity. In our kitchen where we have equipment for this, we set it at 28 degrees celsius with 85 percent humidity.

“When I bake at home, I put water in a small pot and bring it to a boil and then I use a cold oven in the cavity. I put the buns in the oven and the pot of boiled water and basically turn the oven into a proofing box. As for time, it will vary depending on the recipe and the amount of yeast used but the goal is to at least double the size of the buns before baking.”

Sonoma Hot Cross Buns

When do you add your fruit to the dough?

“Fruits and spices is the last to be added to the recipe! It is important to have the dough fully mixed and developed as spices can break down the yeast and the fruit can make the development of the dough more challenging if added too early. This is especially important if you pre-soak the fruit which would introduce more water or moisture into the dough.”

Does the type of baking pan make a difference?

“Not really, no. I think it would be more important how you bake them. Make sure you put them close together, so they join when proved and basically bake together. This will help make them taller but also help with the softness by retaining more moisture.”

Any other secrets you’re willing to part with?

“Be fearless and use your imagination. The bun itself is a vessel for whatever you want to do with it and whatever you like or prefer. We add cranberries in ours because we enjoy the sweet/tangy contrast it gives, but whether you use chocolate or blend chocolate and fruits. Make sure to use dried fruit and not fresh fruits as fresh fruit are full of water and the flavour won’t translate.”

Get your hands on Sonoma’s “Not Cross Buns” this Easter by heading in-store or pre-ordering at the Sonoma website.